Bill the Minder is a book and television series that tells of the adventures of a 15-year-old boy and his cousins Boadicea and Chad. In the process of their adventures they meet many strange people and help solve their unique problems with the use of fantastic machines which Bill is capable of crafting in a short time. The original book was written and illustrated by W. Heath Robinson and published in 1912. The televised series contains a large number of the fantastic machines that Robinson is famed for. The short series was produced at Bevanfield Films for Central Independent Television and shown on ITV. All 15 episodes were released on one VHS tape by Channel 5 Video. Bill the Minder was awarded with the London Film Festival, Outstanding Film of the Year. Episode synopses After the brief title sequence with title music the narrator introduces the characters (the same way each episode except for the first), his introduction goes like this: Bill the minder looked after his cousins Boadicea and Chad. They wandered with him everywhere, even in his dreams. At the end of the episode the same basic title page is displayed but with more credits and the same title music is played. The theme music is the "Triumphal March" from Verdi's opera Aida. Episode 1 – "Old Crispin" Bill visits his uncle Crispin, a mushroom picker who is so skilled that he can hear the mushrooms popping up from the ground. However, Old Crispin is growing unhappy and has taken ill. He is sent on a holiday but that does not help. His wife tries to feed him but he refuses, until one day she feeds him jelly. He eats so much jelly that he becomes too fat to pick mushrooms. Bill builds a machine which Old Crispin can use to lose weight. Bill agrees to take on his two cousins Boadicea and Chad to keep them out of the way. Episode 2 – "The King" Bill and his companions come across an unhappy king while walking over the downs. The King tells them that he was such a good king, the kingdom prospered and his subjects held him so highly they would not visit him. He grew lonely and sad. One day, his prime minister took him away to the chicken shed, where the king and his ministers played cards and dominoes all through the night and